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After Microsoft's recent announcement of Xbox Game Pass membership changes, featuring a price increase for the top tier to $30 per month, many members are seeking new methods to maximize their membership. If you holding onto their subscription or thinking about signing up, here are this week's recommendations.

This weekend's titles include a beloved Japanese role-playing game, a charming indie adventure, and a superb puzzler scheduled to depart from the service shortly.

Persona 4: The Golden Edition

Among the top methods to get your money's worth from your subscription is by immersing yourself in a lengthy, captivating role-playing game — and Persona 4: The Golden Edition fits that description exactly. You step into the role of a teenager who has relocated to the quiet countryside of Inaba. During the day, your goals include making new friends, taking on part-time jobs, and managing schoolwork. At night, you work to solve a disturbing serial murder case by exploring unique locations based on your friends' inner fears.

With a memorable group of heroes, strategic battle system, impeccable art design, and a plot packed with surprises, Persona 4: The Golden Edition is considered a masterpiece for many reasons. It also features a highly addictive gameplay loop that will keep you up late into the night, night after night.

Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato

While major releases like Ninja Gaiden 4 are a primary attraction for the service, the subscription also highlights smaller indie gems. A perfect instance of this is Sopa - Tale of the Stolen Potato. Inspired by the animated classic, this charming independent game is a fantasy tale rooted in Latin American traditions. You join Miho, who, after assisting his grandmother prepare soup, is pulled into a vibrant realm populated by potato-nabbing frogs and various quirky animals.

Sopa plays out similar to an learning-focused PC game from the 90s, as Miho tackles challenges and aids the realm's inhabitants by gathering an assortment of objects. Though it's a little unpolished, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato is a heartwarming small game that openly showcases its love for South America.

Cocoon

Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure is scheduled to leave Game Pass on October 15, giving you only a short time to play it via your membership — and you absolutely must. Developer Geometric Interactive crafted one of the finest puzzle games of this generation in 2023's Cocoon: A Puzzle Adventure. Its central puzzle mechanic revolves around moving among realms within additional dimensions, and often you'll carry those worlds, in the form of colorful orbs, with you.

Although it doesn't have direct instructions, everything about Cocoon's challenges is built in a very intuitive way, though they will test you as well. 2023 was a massive period for games, so it's no surprise if Cocoon was a bit missed by the masses. We should rectify that while we can.